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Earthwatch volunteers study hyenas and jackals in South Africa’s Pilanesberg National Park, helping to develop a long-term conservation plan.

This study focuses on the carnivore species that are typically scavengers in South Africa: the brown hyena and the black-backed jackal. Scavengers play a vital role in the environment by maintaining the balance of ecosystems through their specialized feeding habits; however, they also regularly come into conflict with people. Around the globe, conflict between humans and wildlife is growing due to increased pressure on land use and resources. It is estimated that there are fewer than 1,700 brown hyenas left in South Africa, and black-backed jackals are the most persecuted carnivore in the region.

As part of this Earthwatch team, you’ll help assess carnivore populations in areas with different levels of protection and management in order to help develop our understanding of the ecology of these animals, their role within ecosystems, the threats they face, and how they are viewed by locals, to aid future conservation strategies.

As a volunteer, you’ll be involved in many different aspects of the project, including survey work and education. But for all of your hard work, there will also be exciting opportunities to experience and learn more about other wildlife, enjoy the local cuisine and traditional activities, and relax and take in the African sunset.

Lead scientists

Accommodation and food

Why the research is important

Why the research is important

Natural scavengers are essential, but their role in maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity and reducing disease is little understood.

To protect South Africa’s scavenger species, we need to understand their value and the risks they face.

Natural scavengers are essential to the functioning of their ecosystems, but their role in maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity and reducing disease is little understood. People tend to regard them with disdain and to subject them to treatment leading to population declines. The loss of these species could have serious consequences. This project aims to determine the role and importance of scavengers in human-dominated areas, to ensure that people recognize their importance, and to aid their long-term survival.

Only small regions of South Africa are protected, so most scavengers live in unprotected areas where they are subject to persecution. To ensure the survival of these species, we must understand the ecology of wildlife in unprotected compared with protected areas. This project focuses on brown hyenas, jackals, and dung beetles living in unprotected areas of the North West province, but it will also include other carnivores that live alongside them.

Conduct wildlife surveys looking for hyenas and jackals.

Fewer than 1,700 free-ranging brown hyenas remain in South Africa. Jackals also face persecution. Dung beetles play a key role in ecosystems and can indicate the health of mammal populations in an area; their diversity is closely linked with the diversity of mammal species.

About the research area

Pilanesberg National Park and Mankwe Wildlife Reserve, North West Province, South Africa, Africa

The study sites are within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the Pilanesberg Massif, northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The landscape is part of the Southern African bushveld, a classic African savannah of mixed grasses spotted with trees.

Pilanesberg National Park lies in an extinct volcano, providing a dramatically scenic park. The area is surrounded by an electric fence that prevents large mammals from entering or leaving the park. You’ll find mixed acacia trees and broad-leaved bushveld, ranging from thickets to open grassland. There is a large artificial lake in the center of the park, and smaller permanent areas of water are scattered about.

Over 6,000 individual animals have been reintroduced into the park, including zebras, impalas, white rhinos, elephants, and wildebeest. The park’s reintroduced predators include lions, cheetahs, and wild dogs. Leopards and brown hyenas were present when the park fence was constructed, and both populations are now thriving.

Your team will explore a wilderness teeming with animals, particularly looking for brown hyenas and other scavengers, species that are critically important to the ecosystem. To study these fascinating animals, you will help:

Hike to survey wildlife. You’ll walk the reserve to look for hyenas, jackals, and other animals. You'll also look for their tracks, droppings (which help researchers find out what animals eat), dens, and other traces of wildlife.

Monitor camera traps. While you survey the wilderness, you'll check on camera traps—mounted cameras that automatically photograph anything that passes by. Later, you'll sort through the images you download to see what animals have been captured on film.

Track animals at night. You’ll drive through the reserve with a spotlight to count predators like lions, leopards, and other carnivores. (Many past volunteers report that this activity is one of the most thrilling field experiences they’ve had.)

Trap and study dung beetles. Identify and observe different species of the industrious dung beetle, some of the region’s most beautiful insects, ranging in color from metallic iridescence to patterns that help them blend into their surroundings to inky black.

Visit schools. You'll help bring this research into elementary schools when you go to meet and talk with local kids.

MEET THE OTHER SCIENTISTS

Accommodations and Food

Accommodations and Food

Live in a wildlife reserve

Chef-prepared local cuisine

You’ll be based at a field camp in the heart of the Mankwe Wildlife Reserve, a classic bushveld landscape just east of the rugged, mountainous Pilanesberg Massif. Mankwe is about a 15-minute drive from Pilanesberg National Park’s entrance and about 40 minutes from Kgaswane Mountain Reserve. The reserve is home to white rhinos and a range of other endangered wildlife.

You’ll sleep in either a small field station or a walk-in safari tent, each with its own shower and flush toilet. The camp has a generator, solar-powered lights, and wood-fire-heated water.

Team members will share meals in a group dining area, with a local chef preparing international and local cuisine, including poitjiekos (game stew) and braai (South African barbecue).

“Scavengers of South Africa”

This was my first animal expedition, and all in all I had a blast. Since I was on a winter team, we didn't do any dung beetle research or vulture work. We did do a lot of camera trapping and spotlighting, some scat and dung surveys, and a den survey. The large mammal survey we did in Mankwe was the highlight of the expedition for me: we got to walk through the reserve on a set path with the guards, and count all the large mammals and ostriches we could see.

We also spent a lot of time in Pilanesberg National Park, which was also very interesting--and had lions and elephants, too.

The accommodations were good, but it did get very cold some nights. It was important to have lots of layers, because it could be quite warm during the day and drop down to freezing at night. A warm sleeping bag was a must, as were good gloves. The food was delicious and plentiful. There was vegetarian fare, but it's a pretty meat-centric food culture in general.

Working with Lynne (camp manager) and Rob (grad student) was fun. Lynne had a very well-organized setup that varied the tasks and late-night activities pretty well. Campfires on the nights that we weren't spotlighting were very pleasant.